Interior designers Natacha Froger and Aurèle Duhart join forces to reinterpret the famous geta shoes in a collection of sculptural furniture that combines tradition and modernity.
Natacha Froger is brimming with inventiveness and projects. This interior designer has transformed Atome Associés, founded some twenty years ago, into a creative agency specializing in hospitality and the design of bespoke spaces and furniture. She is also passionate about Japanese culture. For this new collection, available since September 19th, she traveled to Sakae, Japan. This lively district in downtown Nagoya is the birthplace of geta, traditional wooden sandals that embody meticulous and ancestral Japanese craftsmanship. The designer reinterprets their design in furniture pieces. To achieve this, she collaborated with gallery owner Jean-Marc Hervier, whom she has known for twenty years, and designer Aurèle Duhart, with whom she has already completed several interior design projects.
RESPECT CULTURAL HERITAGE
The Geta collection pays homage to " the delicate silhouette of geishas' steps " in a range of tables, consoles, and stools crafted from walnut wood with lacquered tops in various colors. The six luxurious, understated, and refined models reflect the diverse shapes of iconic shoes in their bases. " The designed pieces are both functional and artistic, offering an emotional connection and an embodied design. Their approach values traditional craftsmanship, celebrating history and continuity ," the designers reaffirm. For this project, the duo collaborated with artisans from northern Portugal, notably master cabinetmaker Manoel Cândido Pereira dos Santos, founder of Yako, a company dedicated to workspaces and specializing in furniture design and manufacturing.
COMBINING ART AND DESIGN
As is customary, to accompany the launch of her collections, Natacha Froger organizes inaugural exhibitions that intertwine and elevate art and design. This time, she has turned to a long-time collaborator and friend, Bénédicte Gerin, for a series of paintings. In her work, this French artist, born in New York and based between Paris and Pollença, Spain, draws inspiration from the Mediterranean landscape of Majorca, exploring color, perspective, gesture, movement, and depth. These large-format paintings adorn the Jean-Marc Hervier showroom and bring to life, with intensity and elegance, the refined design of the Geta collection, which offers a unique tribute to Japanese cultural heritage.
